Books in Brief: Rambles in Ireland and a County-by-County Guide for Discriminating Travelers

Rambles in Ireland and a County-by-County Guide for Discriminating Travelers, by Monie Begley (Devin-Adair, 374 pp., $15). Perhaps no other small country has intrigued so many writers as Ireland. Of course, their books cannot all be unique, but on occasion someone really scores a bull’s-eye. Monie Begley is a case in point: her Rambles in Ireland is genuinely different. Part One, “Views and Overviews,” comprises a series of absorbing, informative conversations with wellknown Irish artists, writers, actors, playwrights, and others. Part Two, “Along the Roads,” a detailed guide to unusual hotels, country houses, restaurants, and varied diversions across the island, is a real bonus for tourists. Miss Begley is not minded to belabor current political issues. Thus there is but one brief chapter on the North: poet Seamus Heaney’s gentle musings on life “in an atmosphere full of silent awarenesses of the division.” Playwright Marc Connelly remarks aptly of the book that it “gives a nearly encyclopedic account of the manners, morals, and vicissitudes of Irish life.” Lest that term “encyclopedic” suggest an image of dullness such as to deter potential readers, I would only add that it is also a thoroughly charming account which truly captures the flavor of the land that is its subject.